The
minister added that military troopes would also be present in cities on
the day of the vote, which is April 23. A run-off is scheduled for May 7
in anticipation of an inconclusive first round.

France has been
in a state of emergency since a series of terrorist attacks hit Paris in
November 2015, leaving a total of 130 people dead.

Meanwhile,
candidates in the election have been making efforts to win the votes of
undecided French citizens. Opinion polls show record numbers of voters —
one in three — are still undecided.

The race for the presidency
features Francois Fillon, Emmanuael Macron, Benoit Hamon, Jean-Luc
Melenchon, and Marine Le Pen. Incumbent Francois Hollande is not
re-running for office.

Le Pen has caused the most controversy with her extremist, far-right policies.

On
Monday, protesters demonstrated in the multi-ethnic Paris suburb of
Aubervilliers against a rally planned by Le Pen’s supporters in a nearby
concert hall.

"No fascists in our neighborhoods,” they shouted.

Several candidates, including Le Pen, have adopted eurosceptic tendencies in their campaigns. So has self-styled Melenchon.

A
leftist firebrand, Melenchon drew tens of thousands of supporters
chanting "Resistance” at a rally in the southwestern city of Toulouse on
Sunday. The 65-year-old delivered an ode to freedom and international
solidarity interspersed with swipes at his rivals, particularly
conservative Fillon, who is a former prime minister.

Le Pen from
the National Front is leading the polls. She proposes France’s exit from
the European Union and voices concerns about security and immigration.

She
is followed closely by Macron, whose newly-founded En Marche (Forward)
Party is described by its president as neither "the right nor the left.”

Macron, who had several posts in Hollande’s government, pursues the pro-European policies of outgoing President Hollande.